entry level ladies MTB...price?

ODB said:

Hi all,

I want to get the girl into beach rides and general health.

I dont want to spent much but everything I've seen second hand is nasty..

Just something with basic shock, 15/20 speed type thing....

What am I looking at and where should I go to buy?

You'll get a half-decent entry level MTB from around $350, assembled,
with support etc from an LBS.
Something like an entry level Apollo, a Trek 3700 etc. Talk to an LBS
near you.

Quoted message said:

Is KMart and Big W ok?

Generally, they're junk, but if the bike's not going to be ridden much
and you know how to put one together and maintain it yourself ...

Bleve said:

ODB said:

Hi all,

Quoted message said:

I want to get the girl into beach rides and general health.

Quoted message said:

I dont want to spent much but everything I've seen second hand is nasty..

Quoted message said:

Just something with basic shock, 15/20 speed type thing....

Quoted message said:

What am I looking at and where should I go to buy?You'll get a half-decent entry level MTB from around $350, assembled,

with support etc from an LBS.
Something like an entry level Apollo, a Trek 3700 etc. Talk to an LBS
near you.

Quoted message said:

Is KMart and Big W ok?Generally, they're junk, but if the bike's not going to be ridden much

and you know how to put one together and maintain it yourself ...

Yeah, what he said. Visit your LBS and spend more than $99. ;^)

At least you'll know the forks will be fitted the right way round.
Giant is another brand that may be pooh poohed by the cognoscenti
because they're so popular, but they're popular for a reason. Good
value, good quality. Sure, they're not going to be as high quality as a
$several_thousand bike, but you don't need that yet. You want somehing
that will be reliable, and can probably put up with a litle extra
weight.

Supermarket bikes tend to spend a lot of time rusting under the house,
after the pedal fell off/bearings failed, gears sucked, etc, before
migrating to the naure strip for your local hard rubbish collection.

Tony F

Tony F

thefathippy said:

Giant is another brand that may be pooh poohed by the cognoscenti

You mean sprocketnoscenti don't you?

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
I still can't see a wasp without thinking "400K 1W"
- Derek Potter, uk.misc

Dave said:

thefathippy said:

Giant is another brand that may be pooh poohed by the cognoscenti

Quoted message said:

You mean sprocketnoscenti don't you?

hehe <claps>

Whoops - cogs mesh together as in a gearbox, but sprockets carry chains
- or something like that - I always have to think about the correct
term - and, in this instance, clearly didn't - or I'd turned my
punogram off. ;^)

Tony F

ODB said:

Hi all,

I want to get the girl into beach rides and general health.

I dont want to spent much but everything I've seen second hand is nasty..

Just something with basic shock, 15/20 speed type thing....

What am I looking at and where should I go to buy?

Is KMart and Big W ok?

I've got a Kmart bike (1300km so far 'till I stuffed my knee (non
cycling related AFAICT)) and it's fine. The suspension forks are
clagged but still functional so provided you're handy on the tools I'd
say get one from there. Put it together yourself and it'll be fine
(mine came in a box with some assembly required and frankly I'd rather
do it myself than have a Kmart employee do it - apologies to any Kmart
employees).

I would make sure you adjust the bottom bracket and wheel bearings
though (cone spanners are cheap). My BB bearing failed after 600km
because it was overtightened. I noticed the wheel bearings before they
failed. All bearings were packed with sufficent grease from the
factory, just overtightened.

Quoted message said:

ODB said:

Hi all,

Quoted message said:

I want to get the girl into beach rides and general health.

Quoted message said:

I dont want to spent much but everything I've seen second hand is nasty..

Quoted message said:

Just something with basic shock, 15/20 speed type thing....

Quoted message said:

What am I looking at and where should I go to buy?

Quoted message said:

Is KMart and Big W ok?I've got a Kmart bike (1300km so far 'till I stuffed my knee (non

cycling related AFAICT)) and it's fine. The suspension forks are
clagged but still functional so provided you're handy on the tools I'd
say get one from there. Put it together yourself and it'll be fine
(mine came in a box with some assembly required and frankly I'd rather
do it myself than have a Kmart employee do it - apologies to any Kmart
employees).

I would make sure you adjust the bottom bracket and wheel bearings
though (cone spanners are cheap). My BB bearing failed after 600km
because it was overtightened. I noticed the wheel bearings before they
failed. All bearings were packed with sufficent grease from the
factory, just overtightened.

I agree with this. While the components are cheap (not nasty though),
the construction is atrocious. I've got a well set up one, but it took
a good 8 hours work to get it right, including all bearings (also
pedal), shifts, spokes, brakes (very fiddly) etc. There were big
problems, including lock nuts not locked, and buckled wheels due to
poor spoke adjustment. You're looking at minimum $50 worth of tools
(spoke spanner, cone spanner, rear casette socket, crank puller, allen
keys). Don't buy one of the fancy ones. If they can't build a basic
bike right, imagine what they will do with disk brakes and rear
suspension.